Meeting
by Broken-Jedi
Summary: Finally, a far more updated remake of the beginning to my fanfic "Rogue Jedi" Find out how Renegade Company all started with the short series of introductions to my main characters.


A battle field, dry, hot, dusty, filled with the rush of adrenaline fueled excitement. Geonosis. It's a wasteland, but we've all got a job to do here. Me, I've got my first real mission and a possible Jedi Knighthood at stake here. I've been with the_ mainstream _Jedi for almost three years now. I am Nileen Dejan Renarus, a Gray Jedi, and this is the start of my story.

Touching down on the far side of the Geonosian arena, my goal was to get inside once the rest of the Jedi were rescuing the others and disable the jamming device used against our communications. I'd be racing fellow padawan, near knight, Narae Rurill as he went after the shields and power. We were friendly rivals most of the time, though his 'friendliness' was starting to drive me crazy. He's been a little _too _friendly to me lately. It's odd for a 'normal' Jedi to try and attempt such affections, though I suppose it is nice to see that not all of them are stiff boards….

Still…He's been acting odd since we've picked up the troopers, complaining of headaches and creepy visions. He doesn't seem to like them very much. Me? I'm not sure what to think of them. Hundreds of thousands of identical soldiers bred and ready just for this? Seems a little _too_ convenient to me, but, nobody else is asking questions; and these men, these clones, all seem loyal enough to me.

It doesn't matter today though. It looks like I won't be working with them right now. I've got to do this on my own to prove I've "got what it takes" to be a Jedi apparently. Not that the mainstream Jedi's opinion matters to me any. I'm not planning on sticking with them. I do, however, plan to fight in this war.

"You two ready for this?" Jedi knight Devvin Mesoth, my temporary master, was waiting for the signal to release me and Narae on to our mission.

"Of course I am master." Narae practically snapped, sounding indignant.

"Mind your tone with me young one."

"Sorry master." He replied, still sounding irritable.

I shot master Mesoth a look and he just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Narae had always been a difficult student. He'd lost one master already, and the other's patience was wearing thin now. Narae was eager to be knighted and on his own. He has quite the rebellious streak in him.

I just can't wait to be out there fighting. This is what I was meant for. I can lead those men, probably way better than some emotionally dethatched Jedi could.

"There's the signal you two, get going, and may the Force be with you both." Master Mesoth pushed both of us out off the platform and down to the dusty ground below. I made the jump down with graceful ease, Nare landed with a dull and very dusty thump beside me.

"You remember the way to go once you get in there right Ni?"

"Yeah Nare, I know what I'm doing. Do _you_?"

"Of course." He snorted. "I'll see you up top."

I nodded once and he vanished into the dark, dusty, desolate Geonosian catacombs. And with that, we split ways. I was hoping to finish this quickly and get back up top to join the real fight.

In all my excitement I nearly took a wrong turn in the tunnels. _Steady Nile, patience._ I mentally scolded myself. _You know the way to go…_

The steady hum of machinery told me I was nearing my target. I could see light coming from the bend ahead of me. I cautiously approached it and peered around the corner. Force it didn't look like this was going to be as easy as I'd thought… Magna guard droids; five of them, guarded my target. And as if that wasn't tough enough, a mixed amount of battle droids and Geonosians- about ten- milled idly around the room. They seemed relaxed enough. On a normal day, shifting my shape might have worked well enough, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't be fooling those magna guards anytime too soon. They were brand new and rarely appeared, but they were already tagged as 'Jedi killers' fast, thinking and learning droids. They wouldn't be fooled like the normal droids.

Hardly pausing to think of a strategy; after all, the more I thought, the more likely my plan would be to be foiled, and the more time I would lose. I lunged into the air and ignited my pale, silvery blue lightsaber. My adversaries scattered in all directions as I landed and cleaved one of the slower droids in two. Five Geonosian warriors recovered from their shock and swarmed towards me. I was, admittedly, a bit unnerved by them, but thankfully, they were poorly armed and easy to dispose of. Two droids went to sound the alarm. Force I didn't need that to happen…. I grabbed them with the Force and impaled both on my blade in one fluid move. The last ones I smashed on the wall after batting away their pointless blaster fire. _Now for the real challenge…._

Three of the five magna guards surged forward before I could even draw a quick breath. Their electro staffs were spinning at me with blinding speed all purple and sliver. I rapidly switched the grip on my hilt to reverse and swept the first one's head off with a confusing move. It was still functioning but terribly confused and stumbling all over. I leapt and twisted to avoid two more strikes, then sliced another droid in half. It clattered to the dusty floor in a heap. I spun and stabbed out behind myself catching the third droid in the chest panel. I flattened back my ears suddenly sensing danger, I turned and my vision was filled with the faint purple glow of an electro staff. That headless droid had snuck up on me! The left side of my face burned with pain. I cried out and lashed out with my lightsaber instinctively to protect myself. The headless droid now slumped to the ground, defeated.

I still kept my left eye shut tight in pain and fear. I admit, I was terrified right then, terrified I'd just lost an eye. Using my one good eye, I quickly surveyed my target. Two enemies remained to protect it, and now, I'm half blind. Time for a new strategy. What good is being a Jedi if you don't use the Force? I stood still and reached out, calling on the unseen power. I sent a crushing surge through the Force that not only overpowered the droids circuits, it ruined the jamming device. It went silent with a low, moaning hum. Smirking with satisfaction, I sighed in relief. _Mission complete._ I turned on my comlink and informed the other Jedi of my success. My master congratulated me.

"Well done young one." He said. "Nare has just finished as well."

"Before or after?" I asked.

"Tie." He said. I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Good enough for me." I said with a shrug to myself. "I'm coming back up now. Nile out."

I now risked opening my eye. My vision was blurry and painful, but otherwise, my eye was okay. Whether or not it was a permanent sort of damage, was yet to be seen.

"Thank the Force it's still there anyways…" I muttered to myself, touching the injured area gingerly with my fingertips. I let out a small hiss of pain. "That's gonna leave a mark…."

Fifteen minutes or so down the tunnel, I spotted trouble. Enormous boulders now blocked my way through the passage. The battle above had brought this part of the ceiling down. _But_ _I'm so close though! Just a few more minutes and I'd be up top fighting._ I growled with frustration and flattened my long pointed ears back. I tried another passage. No luck. It was a dead end, plus it was getting darker the more I searched. I decided to comm. my master again.

"Nile, where are you?" he demanded, sounding rushed and annoyed.

"I'm trapped down here Master." I said deadpan, trying to stay calm and patient. "The fighting above destroyed the tunnel pass, and I have no idea where to go from here."

"Okay, I've got an approximate location on your comlink signal. I'm sending a clone squad to find you."

"But Master-"

"No 'buts'. We don't know what lurking around down there after this mess. _Stay_ put."

"Yes Master…." I grumbled reluctantly.

Now fed up with the darkness, I ignited my lightaber. Big mistake. The sudden harsh light revealed exactly what I had disturbed all the way down there. The walls were lined with Geonosians. I choked down a cry of surprise and disgust as the bug-like aliens jumped down at me, shrieking and chattering angrily. I backed away slowly, lowering my blade, trying to convince them that I was harmless. Obviously it wasn't going to work on them. They swarmed over me as I struggled to fight them off. During the scuffle, my lightsaber was wrenched out of my grip by one and I was tackled and grabbed by several others. Thankfully I've put lots of practice into hand to hand combat, though by now, it was looking fairly hopeless. I struggled with the monsters, but I was quickly getting worn down by their sheer masses. They were actually a lot heavier than they initially looked…

Suddenly the tunnel was flooded with intense beams of light, and blaster bolts shrieked and whined past me. I caught a glimpse of white figures moving in as I hoped to the Force that they didn't shoot me along with the Geonosians. Once I was sure the shooting was over, I struggled out of the pile of bugs that had either fallen on or tackled me before they died. A blinding light flashed into my face as soon as I moved. I froze and quickly tried to cover my eyes.

"I found the girl Sir!" A strong male voice shouted.

"Good work Sergeant. Get her up and let's get out of this_ kriffing_ hole." Replied seemingly the same voice, though his tone rang with authority.

I wasn't sure about the clones so I stayed frozen in place. But then the beams of light came closer. I protested at the harsh white light in my already strained eye. Quickly the light shut off and I found myself staring into a black T slit visor. I quickly got to my feet. The clones were here now. Of course. Who else would it be?

The figure before me was tall, and clad from head to solid boot in dirty white armor. He had blue marks on several parts and hanging from his belt was a dark grey kilt or something. The white armored figure offered his hand to show me that he was harmless enough. I backed away from it though.

"Who are you?" I demanded. I looked over to another white armored figure, this one had found my lightsaber. "Tell him to give that back." I pointed to the man with my lightsaber hilt. I didn't like other people handling my weapon unless I allowed them to. Sort of an odd pet peeve I suppose…

The strange soldier motioned to hand the hilt to him and the other soldier obeyed. He stepped forward and held it out to me.

"CC-1936." He said. "You were asking who I was."

I tilted my head and accepted the hilt. "CC- what?" I babbled out of confusion.

"1936." He supplied tonelessly.

"What's your name?" I asked, thinking surely that's _not_ what he went around calling himself every day.

"CC- 19-"

I cut him off. "Don't you have a _name_ trooper?"

The white soldier was uneasy. I could feel it through the Force.

"I have to get you back with the other Jedi now Sir." He said after a moment. "Follow us." He turned and signaled the others to move out.

I was now even more confused than before. _Why wouldn't he tell me who he was?_ He walked ahead of the others, his grey kilt swinging as he walked. He had a precise, upright, military walk. I moved just a little closer to him to observe and maybe get him to talk again. He knew I was behind him. I could feel it in the Force. _Why was he ignoring me then?_ They were all completely silent. It was almost creepy. They all felt very much the same, yet so very different at the same time.

"So, thanks…." I said hoping he'd at least supply his name if not conversation.

He slowed down slightly and nodded. "You're welcome Sir."

I continued to study him closely. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but I had never seen anything like him or the others before. He had a muscular, yet lithe frame hidden behind a thick armored shell. I had no idea what there was to see underneath that almost deathlike helmet of his.

At last he spoke, but it wasn't to me. "We are to wait for the gunship pick up, via the tunnel we came in. ETA twenty minutes." His soldiers acknowledged his order relay.

There was another ten minutes of stoic walking and we reached the end of the tunnel. They all stood in various positions of defense and waited. There were four of them including my stubbornly silent rescuer. He now stood a few feet away from me warily, but diligently watching the sky and his surroundings. Now with the bright sunlight, I could see him better. I could see muscles rippling under the form fitting armor and suit that he wore for protection. He tensed once as a shadow passed over the tunnel mouth and scanned the sky for threats. After a moment another soldier took his place and he moved back over to me with another soldier just behind him. I could feel his reluctance to change watch and let his brother take his place. There was pain, fresh in the forefront of his mind.

"You are injured." He said suddenly in front of me. I hadn't realized I'd zoned out. "We have a medic who can help you if you wish." He said.

I paused then nodded after a moment. The other soldier stepped forward and began working on the cut on my face. CC-1936 watched me closely. I felt a little uncomfortable but I figured it was only fair seeing as I'd been staring at him for a better part of our traveling time. He moved off a few feet after a thorough study, he was curious, I could tell, and removed his helmet. Now it was my turn to be curious again. His face was an exotic tan color and his large eyes were a beautiful shade of brown and gold. He had dark hair, perfectly cut military style with slight curls to it. He looked like he was about my age, twenty or so. He as if sensing my eyes on him, he turned and looked over at me again. I blushed and flicked my ears in embarrassment. The medic quickly finished his job and moved off. CC-1936 came back after the medic left.

"My name is Kralj." He said finally.

I looked at him in slight surprise. "My name is Nileen Renarus. But you can call just call me Nile." I smiled at him, now glad to have a name for him rather than that stupid jumble of numbers and letters. He smiled slightly as if afraid to do so or else he was unaccustomed to it. _He has a nice smile…_

The moment of interaction was quickly shattered by an inhuman snarl. Troopers sprang to defensive positions around her instantly. I had my lightsaber out in a flash just as something flew straight for me and Kralj. There was another, distinctively feline hiss and another sound, this one human, of pain. Troopers scattered, or were tossed. The creature, a huge nexu, had now turned and landed on top of Kralj, effectively pinning him down. He tussled with it, trying to keep away from the claws, all while reaching for his blaster.

I snarled an angry curse. Two troopers were dead already, their torn and bleeding bodies laying in a tangled heap nearby, while Kralj worked to get free. I snapped into action, maybe too late, as the creature finally got a successful swipe at the clone commander. Kralj cried in pain and kicked it away by the time I'd gotten close enough. The creature lunged for him again, crunching down on Kralj's armored side and shaking him furiously. I swiped at its face, blinding it. The nexu shrieked in pain and dropped its victim and went for the other trooper. I lunged for it again, this time, delivering a fatal blow. The trooper heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

"Thank you ma'am. We'd have been goners for sure…"

"No problem trooper. You're the medic right?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll tend to the commander right away. The gunship's been delayed, we're gonna have to hold out a little while longer. Traveling through here is too dangerous with all the narrow gorges. A gunship won't find us back there."

"Do the best you can. I'll help if I'm able to."

Meanwhile, the commander had stubbornly pulled himself to his feet, clutching his bleeding side with his right arm, and covering his face with his left hand. I felt terrible for him._ We'd both been distracted and he'd taken off his helmet…What if he doesn't heal?_

Meanwhile, I got to work on taking the pelt off that nexu. I'd make a nice sash or kilt of my own out of it…..

Finally, after what felt like hours I finally heard the sound of an approaching ship

. "The gunship's here!" The medic called. Kralj pulled on his helmet again with a grimace, but the medic stopped him. "Leave it for now Sir."

The commander motioned for me to go ahead of him. I got up and the followed me to the RV point. Kralj jumped in and held out a hand to pull me onboard as well.

"Thank you commander Kralj."

"It was an honor to serve with you today ma'am."


End file.
